Thursday, May 09, 2013

Daniel Henninger of The Wall Street Journal refrains from the cliché
about a crisis being both a danger and an opportunity -- but maybe he shouldn't
have. Henninger notes that young Americans face high, chronic unemployment and
underemployment, to the extent that it is beginning to affect the culture:

The U.S. under Barack Obama is at the edge of the dark jobs forest
Europe disappeared into in the 1970s, with our annual growth during his term
down around 2% instead of over its normal 3%. Our kids are starting to look and
sound like Europe's smart kids--despondent and resigned.

It doesn't have to be this way, but politicians are too busy fighting each
other over nonessential "hot button" issues to exploit the underlying
opportunity:

For an alert opposition, openings exist. The Young America's
Foundation just did a deep polling dive into the attitudes of these voters, and
one answer stands out. Asked if the "free market is mostly unfair and requires
government intervention to correct," 33% agreed and 45% disagreed. And a
November analysis by Civicyouth.org at Tufts University noted that younger
black males (age 18-24) have never been as excited about Barack Obama as women
are. Not having a job could chill enthusiasm for any president. [bold added]

Part of the problem is that too many conservatives are not truly
pro-capitalist: If you don't really understand how capitalismcould eliminate
problems like this, you likely will not even realize that there is a chance to
offer such a choice. I am glad that at least some, like this author, understand
what's going on: Opportunities like this can have a short shelf life.